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Thursday, November 14, 2013

In about 8 days the world will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of Doctor who. I suppose that since this blog was originally created to talk about my travels through Doctor Who Fandom, it is a little odd that I have been mum on the subject of late. I also suppose it is time that I break that celebration, at least enough so that I can celebrate this momentous occasion.

In terms of Doctor Who this has been quite a year, There has been the regular season of Doctor Who, 50th Anniversary ebooks, rereleases of older books, 50th anniversary Audios, Comics, and a wonderful 50th anniversary special from big Finish. We even had some old stories unearthed! But of course the one thing that every one is still talking about is the Official special that we are all waiting on. Its been teased for a long time now. Today part of that came to fruition. There have been murmuring for over a year that Paul McGann may be making some kind of appearance, probably on a minisode. Today those rumors were put to bed and they turned out to be true! Today McGann once again graced and official BBC production of Doctor Who, and it was perfect.

For those of us who braved the wilderness years and survived it was not a disappointment because in one line, 15 years of or so of audio cannon was legitimized. While many of us already knew it was cannon - and could prove it - Today the BBC gave the nod. That is important. Not 2 weeks ago I posed a question on the facebook page for a podcast I am part of asking if "Spinoff Media should be celebrated as part of the history of Doctor Who." Today it was, I feel like we have a new life.

McGann had a great energy and in a way reminded me what I love about Doctor Who. for the first time since 2005 we see a Doctor who has not been through the ravages of the time war. While this doctor is portrayed as trying to avoid the war, he has not been involved in it. He still feels carefree. He seems untainted by the idea o the time war. He is portrayed as an explorer and an adventurer, which is the way the McGann doctor, from the earliest drafts, was supposed to be. They hit it, right down to the new updated costume. Moffat nailed my image of the 8th doctor. I only wish we were going to get more of him, he was truly amazing in the less than 7 minutes that he was on screen.

McGann's new costume in "The Night of the Doctor"

Of course while I think McGann was the best part there is more awesomeness. The Sisterhood of Karn, who first appeared in the brain of Morbius, makes an appearance as well as the harbingers of the the John Hurt "War Doctor". As much as Moffat says he hates to do it, he is playing a lot of fan service right now. Bringing back fan favorites and little bits of cannon. Seeing the sisterhood was a lot of fun to experience, especially opposite McGann's Doctor!

I think we still have a few surprises in store for the actual special, but even if we don't, I think we just witnessed the most importance 6 minutes of Doctor Who since 2005. Perhaps it will bring some new who fans to the fold of spinoff media and then we will be fending them off of that as well.

So, Thank you Stephen Moffat! You made a lot of fan's day, while making a lot of new who fans scratch their heads in confusion. For that, I thank you!

And of course in the tradition of when it rains it pours, we were also granted a first look at a trailer for the docudrama Adventures in Time and Space! It looks very swinging and I'm probably just as excited about that as I am the special that is coming up!

And just for good measure in cas you haven't seen it the trailer that was released last weekend:

What are you most excited about for the 50th anniversary! I'd love to hear your comments.